2007 July archive | Heng’s Gaming Blog

Engagement

Ξ July 31st, 2007 | → 13 Comments | ∇ Uncategorized |

After 7++ years of courtship, I am happy to announce that I am now officially engaged to my darling Vivian Wong Li Li on the 28th July 2007.

Although there were no roses or dinners, there was this:

The eternal diamond, the forever platinum, a simple token of my promise, my love to her.

Watch this space for the announcement of our wedding next year!

Boardgames for Week Ending July 29th

Ξ July 31st, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Boardgames |

Haven’t been updating my boardgame activities lately, which I put mostly down to the fact that no spectacular new games were played. However, boardgaming isn’t all about trying out the newest and biggest games, it’s about spending time with your friends and having a good time. And so, here’s a rundown on the week that was:

Thursday - Played Age of Steam (AOS) with Marcus, Phuah and Lim at Mage Cafe. Thank God for small favors, Phuah and Lim responded enthusiastically to Marcus’ invitation to play AOS on a weekday night. It was supposed to be a six-players but due to misunderstanding and getting stood up, only the gamers from Klang turned up. It was quite a friendly game as none of the newbies went bankrupt. Phuah even managed to tie with Marcus in his first game.

Friday - Played Railroad Tycoon (RRT) with Henry, Ken, Paul, Phuah and Bernard at Mage Cafe. The refugees from BGC descended upon Mage for this week as organiser Jeff went on an aeroplane trip. Bernard joins the boardgamers for the first time after hearing about it from Phuah and Lim. Turns out I know Bernard personally since he was my junior in secondary school and was also a librarian - what a way to get reacquainted! This game had six players and Alvin again sat out for the second night running because of his train game phobia. Ah well, it’s still good to have him around to cheer us on.

RailRoad Tycoons: (from left) Bernard, me, Henry

Railroad Tycoons: (from left, facing camera) Ken, Phuah, Paul

First time playing RRT with 6 players, the maximum limit, and I had to break out more tracks since it ran out halfway through the game. Overall I’m quite happy as it’s not often that my copy of the game gets played. Having 6 players is also nice in that the tracks now fill up the whole board instead of concentrating in the few populous areas. In this game, Henry tried an alternative strategy of going for the ‘Major Lines’ victory points and nearly succeeded. However the cost required in building the long tracks cost him more than expected and he ended up in 4th place. Both Ken and myself went and took the tested and proven strategy of cheap, short east coast links with many goods cube to emerge 1st and 2nd.

Me (red) and Ken (black) monopolising the lucrative east coast between the both of us.

Paul tried his hand at minimising his issuing of shares in order to fulfill his secret objective. He did extremely well and for the whole game, issued only 1-share!!! Paul claimed 3rd place with his effort. Phuah and Bernard, learning the game for the first time, needed some time to catch on to the idea to end in the last two places.

Henry (green) taking the northern approach via Toronto to reach Chicago/Kansas City from New York. Paul (blue), Phuah (purple) and Bernard (yellow) joining the fray in the mid west.

I felt that the game was again a bit longish, capping at 3 hrs. Probably the ending condition can be refined such that less empty cities are needed to end the game. Thanks to all who attended, next session will be passed back to gamemaster Jeff to organise.

An involving end-of-game stand-up-discussion.

*photos by aycee

The truth about boardgame winners

Ξ July 24th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Boardgames |

You’ve always suspected it. He always wins the game. It’s not that he’s smart, but… his head is BIG!!!

Head as Obstruction

For certain games such as Alhambra or Union Pacific, where knowing the information in each gamers’ spaces is crucial to victory, the size of one’s head can often obstruct such information. It is likely that the big-headed player gains an advantage when other players (noteably those to his/her left and right) cannot fully identify and categorize the information due to the inability to negotiate a large environmental constaint (i.e. the big head).

(This excerpt has been taken from boardgamegeek, from a posting by Rick B (a.k.a. puck head). For the whole list of all the reasons why big-headed gamers always wins, check out http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/23210. for a LOL time :P)

Youtube: Saviour of Time

Ξ July 24th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Uncategorized |

I’ve always been partial to good stories. Even when playing computer games, I look for the story in the game. That’s why I like adventure or RPG (role playing games). There are always good stories there in spite of the tedium involved in figuring out puzzles or fighting baddies in the game. One of the better action adventure games there is the Metal Gear Solid series by Hideo Kojima of Konami.

Yes, there is some tedium in this stealth-action game, where you have to spent most of the time sneaking around and avoiding detection. Yes, there are insanely difficult boss fights which require you to remember the sequence of attacks in order to survive them. However, these ‘gameplay’ elements were often punctuated by longish cut scenes, telling stories of secrets and betrayals, of morals in war, of being an instrument of death with a conscience, of the choices we make or fail to make as a human being. It forces you to think and question in the way that Fight Club (the film) did; in a simple but entertaining manner. It probably teaches critical thinking skills to gamers in an involving setting which cannot be replicated in a classroom.

So what does this all have to do with YouTube, the premier video feed on the internet? Simple, through the wonders of internet, we have now access to the whole story and drama in the Metal Gear Solid Game without lifting a finger to slog through the levels. We have the entertainment, without the effort. We have the link for you connoisseurs of videogame stories here.

Of course, since I’ve played through the first game and the second game, YouTube came in and save our time and effort on the third in the series: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The video can be found here. Thanks to an industrious user named Majinsweet, we can now watch the whole story unfold in a 39-part miniseries, each 10 minutes long. Thanks, Majinsweet!

(hehe, some people might scream at this cheap way of watching the story… especially when they spent a month slogging through it… isn’t it rite, jonathon koay? nyuk nyuk nyuk :P)